Feed Readers: Good Eating?

A lot of Web 2.0 is about aggregation. There’s just so much out there; users want a lot, but need to find new, more interesting, more ‘fun’ ways to sift through the mind-boggling mass of information. Search is just one aspect – you’ve got to have the information rated, perhaps tagged, then you have to facilitate sharing and recommendations.

Syndicated content is now consumed at impressive rates, and feed readers have been around for a while, saving users time and effort. Diverse sites and sources can be monitored, and the user can access almost real-time updates in one place. Free web-based readers are now multiplying like rabbits…

Speaking of 2.0 features, though, Rojo clearly stands up and takes a bow – it’s ‘Mojo’ rating feature is cool and appealing, it’s tagging is efficient, it offers a contacts feature allowing you to share information among your contacts, and it also lets you recommend feeds. Another thing about Rojo – it’s the fastest updated, beating the other services by almost half a day; and it’s very easy to see what’s hot right now on Rojo.

Features wise, Rojo and Bloglines are quite the cups that runneth over. Google Reader is the fastest off the blocks, closely followed by FeedLounge – which is the only one here that isn’t free by the way; they charge something like $5/month. If you look at Techcrunch, there’s also info about some newer players - Attensa, and Gritwire, sure to be bristling with 2.0 gizmos.

Users will soon be taking the next steps into super-selectivity, going beyond mere recommendations and community. Feedrinse is a case in point, enabling you to be much more picky about what you read. Feed readers will have to keep this in mind as the way to go.